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Roman Augustoviz spends Minnesota's winters covering college hockey, specifically the Gophers, and other University of Minnesota sports. During the summer, he writes about the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, with a dose of U sports sprinkled in. Follow him on Twitter @RomanStrib.
Posts about Colorado College
Colorado College signs six, including two Minnesotans
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: November 17, 2012 - 2:02 PM
Recruiting news keeps coming in. Minnesota State signs four, Bemidji State five ... and now Colorado College has announced six signings.
The Gophers? Nothing from the Mariucci office at Oak and 4th St., although who they were pursuing and had commitments from is widely known.
Back to CC. The newest list of Tigers-to-be is made up of four forwards and two defensemen.
Two of the forwards are Daniel Labosky of Edina and Sam Rothstein of Minnetonka. The 5-7, 150 Labonsky plays for Benilde-St. Margaret's. Rothstein, 5-9, 165, plays for Sioux Falls of the UHSL.
Others who signed during the early week-long signing period which began Wednesday are forwards Zach Aman of Johnstown, Pa., and Alex Roos of Prairie Grove, Ill., and and defensemen Garrett Cecere of West Des Moines, Ia. and Gustav Olofsson of Broomfield, Co.
Five of the six play in the USHL. Several will join April signees Christian Heil, Matt Hansen and Jaccob Slavin as freshmen next fall when CC makes its debut as a founding member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The others will join the Tigers for the 2014-15 season.
“We as a staff are very pleased with the talent and character of the players that recently signed to
become future Tigers,” coach Scott Owens said, according to a CC news release. “It’s an excellent mix of speed, skill and size, and all the players are currently contributing to their respective teams in a significant way."
Hansen, one of the early signees, is also a Minnesotan. He is from St. Cloud and is playing for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the British Columbia Hockey League.
The biggest recruit is Olofsson, 6-2, 189 and playing for Green Bay of the USHL.
CC's recruits:
Zach Aman F 5-11 186 L 3/1/94 Johnstown, Pa./Indiana Ice (USHL)
Garrett Cecere D 5-10 160 L 1/5/95 West Des Moines, Iowa/Tri-City Storm (USHL)
Christian Heil F 6-1 178 L 3/25/94 Westminster, Colo./Chicago Steel (USHL)
Matt Hansen F 5-10 163 R 5/11/93 St. Cloud, Minn./Alberni Valley Bulldogs (BCHL)
Daniel Labosky F 5-7 150 L 5/24/95 Edina, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret H.S. (Minn.)
Gustav Olofsson D 6-2 189 L 12/1/94 Broomfield, Colo./Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
Alex Roos F 5-10 170 R 12/5/94 Prairie Grove, Ill./Chicago Steele (USHL)
Sam Rothstein F 5-9 165 L 8/31/93 Minnetonka, Minn./Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
Jaccob Slavin D 6-2 180 L 5/1/94 Erie, Colo./Chicago Steel (USHL)
Gophers' penalty kill completely shuts down CC
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: January 24, 2012 - 9:31 PMBefore the Gophers-Colorado College series last weekend, Gophers coach Don Lucia said the penalty kill had to get better. It did. The Tigers, who came in with the WCHA's best power play, were zero-for-eight with the man-advantage.
But that doesn't come close to telling how dominant the Gophers' penalty killers were. CC had 14 minutes, 22 seconds with a man advantage on its eight power plays and had only five shots on goal while the Gophers had three and a goal.
Two of the Gophers' top penalty-killers are third line teammates Nate Condon and Taylor Matson. Condon has four short-handed goal and had two breakaways on special teams against CC. He was not successful Friday, but scored Saturday. He has four short-handed goals, which ranks second nationally.
"They are both extremely fast and they can ... get going in a hurry," Lucia said, referring to what they do on turnovers. "You saw that in North Dakota where Taylor just tapped it up to Nate. He had the breakaway. Nate had a breakaway on Friday night short-handed, too, and the puck just rolled on him when he was about to shoot. Saturday night he was able to make the play."
Condon scored his fourth short-handed goal the second night. Onlly one player with five has more. Matson has one short-handed goal.
"We've got some pretty good tandems on our penalty kill right now," Lucia said. "We use Condon and Matson, they are probably are A-plus penalty killers. We like to use [Jake} Hansen and [Erik] Haula. We like to use [Nick] Bjugstad and [Kyle] Rau. And we like [Tom] Serratore and [Trevor] Boyd. So we have two guys on all four lines.
"I try not to use as much as I can, Haula and Hansen and Rau and Bjugstad on every penalty kill," Lucia said. "I'd like to be able to come back with one of their lines after the penalty is over."
The Gophers have the 17th best penalty kill nationally, at 84.4 percent. But is is the best in the WCHA, just ahead of Bemidji State at 84.0.
PLAYING YOURSELF?
"In many ways, we are mirror images the way we play the game," Lucia said, comparing the Gophers and CC. "The games are usually up-tempo, they are highly entertaining. There were some very good players on the ice last weekend.
"I thought it was pretty well played both nights. Exciting."
Lucia said he was disappointed the Gophers let a tie turned into a defeat on Friday. "A three-point weekend would have been great," he said, "but we were able to keep them four points behind us.
"Kent [goalie Kent Patterson] the last couple weeks has really looked sharp. And we need that. The good thing for us is, we are still in pretty good shape. We obviously have to win some WCHA games here down the stretch to maintain our positioning and try to get the best seed we can come playoff time."
Lucia said he also liked the way his defensemen played this past weekend. "We didn't give up double digit shots in any of the six periods against CC who averges 30-some shots a game," he said. "That was a real positive for us as well."
The Gophers fourth nationally and first in the WCHA in scoring defense; opponents average 2.07 goals per game against them.
THE DON SAYS
* On late goal last Friday: "That's like losing in overtime, basically. In some ways, you would rather lose a game by three than lose it that way because it is not so emotionally draining."
* On splits last two weeks with North Dakota and Colorado College: "I liked the way we played. The hard part for us is, we just didn't score enough. We lost to North Dakota 2-1, we lost to CC 2-1. We just need some guys to start rolling a bit offensively."
FIVE AND FIVE
The Gophers have only 10 conference games left, five at home, five away. This weekend they have a home and home series with St. Cloud State and have tough road series at Denver and Nebraska Omaha. They have home series left with Bemidji State and Wisconsin.
"We have put ourselves in pretty good shape as far as home ice, but you still have to continue to win," Lucia said.
The Gophers are in first place in the WCHA, two ahead of UMD. The top six teams get home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
* The three top power play teams in the WCHA are Denver at 23.6, CC at 23.1 and the Gophers at 22.6. They are bunched at Nos. 8, 9 and 10 nationally.
* Four of the top six scoring teams are in the WCHA: 1. UMD, 3.96 GAA; 2. Gophers, 3.81, 5. Denver, 3.54 and CC, 3.50.
* Sophomore center Nick Bjugstad is second in goals nationally with 20, tied for ninth in points with 32. ... Linemate Kyle Rau is second in points among freshmen with 25 and in goals with 13. He is tied for fifth in game-winners with five.
* Defenseman Nate Schmidt is tied for fifth in assists with 24 and is second in points among defensemen with 26.
Lucia: Colorado College poses different problem than UND
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: January 16, 2012 - 11:55 PMGophers coach Don Lucia said Colorado College will be a much different opponent this weekend than North Dakota was.
"North Dakota is big, strong and they can get around the rink, " Lucia said.
And Colorado College? "CC likes to play a little bit more like we do," Lucia said. "They get up and down the rink and they are fast. And they have a very, veteran team. The speed factor will be much more important this weekend for us in our preparation."
Lucia said the Tigers finished last season very well, upsetting Boston College in the NCAA quarterfinals and losing to Michigan by one goal in a regional final.
"They return a majority of their team," Lucia said. "Five of their six D are back, their goaltender is back from last year's team and nine or 10 of their forwards that played at the end of last year are returning.
"For their team, the Schwartzes, that is where it begins with, the two brothers. ... Mike's son, Gabe Guentzel, is their top defenseman. He is having another good year as a senior. He is their main guy on the back line."
Rylan Schwartz had 18 goals and nine assists for a team-high 27 points; Jaden is only three points behind (7-17--24).
"In the nets, it looks like a younger kid has taken the position over for them, Thorimbert, this kid out of western Canada," Lucia said. "I think that is the guy we will see both games this weekend."
Josh Thorimbert, a sophomore from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is 8-3-0 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. Junior Joe Howe of Plymouth was CC's primary goalie the past two season. He is 5-5-1 this season with a 3.51 gaa.
"It is a big series," Lucia said. "We are four points up on them -- t he only two games we see them this year. And certainly it is a team we will be fighting for with a spot in the standings [at stake] come the end of the season. They were picked, I believe, preseason second in the league.
"They are a good team, they are a quality team, they can skate, they can get around the rink. ... Our fans do enjoy this series as much as any all year long. It is not the big rivalry and intensity when North Dakota comes into our building, but for the skill and the way the game is played, I think our fans really enjoy this weekend."
PLAYERS TOOK FRIDAY LOSS HARD
Lucia said he would have been fine with a 1-1 tie with North Dakota on Friday, but a loss on a goal with under four minutes left was disappointing to him and his players.
"And then you go back to the hotel and you have some fans that are jeering you when you walk in ... that sat in our craw a little bit," Lucia said on his weekly radio show on Monday. "The guys did a good job of getting back and preparing for Saturday and came out and we scored some goals.
"That has been the big issue with us the last few games we lost," he said. "We haven't done anything five-on-five. We had only scored two goals total five-on-five in three games."
All one-goal losses to Northeastern (3-2), Notre Dame (4-3) and North Dakota (2-1).
"It was important to rebound and play well and play hard and we did," Lucia said. "We played with the lead on Saturday night and got up 4-0. They were going to come, which they did. ... We were happy to get out of there with the win on Saturday and move on and get ready for CC this weekend."
The Gophers won the second game 6-2.
"The guys were, the guys were really down after Friday night's game," Lucia said. "They didn't say a word that night. They didn't say a word at breakfast. The trick was, how are we going to handle it as coaches?"
Lucia said he tried to be firm in the pregame meeting before the second game. "But really there was no yelling whatever in our team meeting, it was just these are things we have to do to give ourselves a chance to win," Lucia said, "and the guys responded. We got off to a good start and kept going."
Lucia said Bjugstad, the team's offensive leader, set the tone early in the game. The 6-5 sophomore center scored a goal early in the opening period and late to put the Gophers ahead 2-0.
"We just played a lot better Saturday than we did on Friday," said Lucia, whose team climbed up from No. 5 in both national polls. The Gophers are No. 2 in one poll this week, No. 4 in the other.
LUCIA: EMOTIONS LED TO BAD BLOOD
In the handshake line after Saturday's game, Ben Blood of UND took a swing at Gophers forward Kyle Rau with hand or forearm, hard to tell which. Soon Blood and Seth Ambroz, the player behind Rau, were on the ice wrestling.
Lucia said out-of-control emotions led to the incident. "Unfortunately, some of the emotions got the best of it," he said "That is not what i don't think what they want, that certainly is not what we want. And it happened on Saturday. That shows the intensity of the games, the intensity of the rivalry.
"Once the game is over, it's over and you have to be able to move on and shake hands and be respectful. That's one of the great things about our sport that we do that. ... I've thought about this a lot. In our league, for the most part, we just shake hands at the end of a weekend. Maybe we should shake hands after every game and not just after the weekend? That sportsmanship is important."
Lucia said he does not think there will be an disciplinary action from the handshake scuffle, nor is it warranted. "The guy got shoved and two guys grabbed each other and it pretty much ended there," Lucia said. "You know what? Move on. ... It is one of those things that happened in the heat of the moment. There is a lot of passion involved in the game."
THE DON SAYS
* On freshman right wing Seth Ambroz, who had a goal and an assist on Saturday: "Seth is the type of player who should thrive in an environment like that, a big, strong kid. We see great progress in him in practice but it just has not transferred yet on a regular basis in games from an offensive standpoint. But he is getting chances.
"For him to get a goal, to get an assist, to get involved in some of the scrums, that is the type of player that he has to be and he came through for us. That whole [third] line did."
Nate Condon, the other wing on the third line, had two goals, while center Taylor Matson had three assists.
* On 'U' defenseman Nate Schmidt being ill: "[He] had the flu. I don't know if he had food poisoning from the night before. But he was sick all night. We really didn't know if he would play until game time. He got an IV before the game. He gave us what he had. He hung in there pretty good. That says a lot about his mental toughness that he was able to play. Because earlier in the day, he didn't look very good. But he rallied and found a way to get it done."
* On Gophers defenseman Mark Alt's major penalty for checking from behind and game disqualification in the third period Saturday: "I know how bad Mark felt. ... He was stepping up to hit the kid and he started to turn. We talked about it at our meeting today. When you see a back, you just have to let up. It's hard to do. ... You are talking tenths of a second to make that decision."
UND forward from Warroad among WCHA's weekly award recipients
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: November 29, 2011 - 5:58 PMScoring is up in the WCHA this season and two players contributing to all the offense are sophomore left winger Brock Nelson of North Dakota and junior center Rylan Schwartz of Colorado College. Both had six point-weekends as their teams played each other and are the co-WCHA players of the week.
Nelson, 6-4, 192 from Warroad, Minn., had two power-play goals and an assist as the Fighting Sioux beat CC 7-6 on Friday. His goal at 11:54 of the final period was the game-winner. He had another power-play goal and two assists as UND beat CC 4-3 on Saturday.
One of his assists the second game came on Danny Kristo's short-handed, game-winner in the third period.
In 14 games, Nelson has 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points, tying him for the team scoring lead. He is a NHL draft pick of the New York Islanders.
Schwartz, a 5-10, 196-pound junior from Wilcox, Saskatchewan, had hat tricks in both the Tigers' two losses. He is tied for the scoring lead on his team, too, with 13 goals and four assists for 17 points in 11 games.
Forward Zach Lehrke of Minnesota State, the Gophers' opponent this weekend, was also nominated for this award.
D-MAN WITH OFFENSE
All-america junior defenseman Justin Schultz of Wisconsin is the WCHA's defensive player of the week. He had seven points as the Badgers swept Mercyhurst 7-2 and 5-2.
Schultz had two goals, including the game-winner, and two assists in the first game. He had a power-play goal and two assists the second night.
He is tied for the national scoring lead with teammate Mark Zengerle and the Gophers' Nick Bjugstad, both forwards. All have 25 points. Schultz, a 6-2, 185-pound junior from West Kelowna, British Columbia, has seven goals and 18 assists. He is an NHL draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks.
DU GOALIE SHARP
Denver goalie Juho Olkinuora is the WCHA's rookie of the week. He beat Princeton 3-0 on Friday in the Denver Cup Classic, making 38 saves.
He also was in the nets for the Pioneers in their 4-2 loss to Miami the next night in the title game. He had 24 saves against the RedHawks and gave up just two even-strength goals. Miami had one goal on a power play, another on an empty-netter.
Olkinuora, 6-2, 200 pounds, is from Helsinki, Finland. He was expected to be a backup goalie for DU, but has been thrust into a starting role because of injuries to Sam Brittain and Adam Murray.
Olkinuora has a 1-2-2 record, a 1.91 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
Forward Matt Leitner of Minnesota State also was nominated for this award.
UND forward from Warroad among WCHA's weekly award recipients
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: November 29, 2011 - 5:58 PMScoring is up in the WCHA this season and two players contributing to all the offense are sophomore left winger Brock Nelson of North Dakota and junior center Rylan Schwartz of Colorado College. Both had six point-weekends as their teams played each other and are the co-WCHA players of the week.
Nelson, 6-4, 192 from Warroad, Minn., had two power-play goals and an assist as the Fighting Sioux beat CC 7-6 on Friday. His goal at 11:54 of the final period was the game-winner. He had another power-play goal and two assists as UND beat CC 4-3 on Saturday.
One of his assists the second game came on Danny Kristo's short-handed, game-winner in the third period.
In 14 games, Nelson has 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points, tying him for the team scoring lead. He is a NHL draft pick of the New York Islanders.
Schwartz, a 5-10, 196-pound junior from Wilcox, Saskatchewan, had hat tricks in both the Tigers' two losses. He is tied for the scoring lead on his team, too, with 13 goals and four assists for 17 points in 11 games.
Forward Zach Lehrke of Minnesota State, the Gophers' opponent this weekend, was also nominated for this award.
D-MAN WITH OFFENSE
All-america junior defenseman Justin Schultz of Wisconsin is the WCHA's defensive player of the week. He had seven points as the Badgers swept Mercyhurst 7-2 and 5-2.
Schultz had two goals, including the game-winner, and two assists in the first game. He had a power-play goal and two assists the second night.
He is tied for the national scoring lead with teammate Mark Zengerle and the Gophers' Nick Bjugstad, both forwards. All have 25 points. Schultz, a 6-2, 185-pound junior from West Kelowna, British Columbia, has seven goals and 18 assists. He is an NHL draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks.
DU GOALIE SHARP
Denver goalie Juho Olkinuora is the WCHA's rookie of the week. He beat Princeton 3-0 on Friday in the Denver Cup Classic, making 38 saves.
He also was in the nets for the Pioneers in their 4-2 loss to Miami the next night in the title game. He had 24 saves against the RedHawks and gave up just two even-strength goals. Miami had one goal on a power play, another on an empty-netter.
Olkinuora, 6-2, 200 pounds, is from Helsinki, Finland. He was expected to be a backup goalie for DU, but has been thrust into a starting role because of injuries to Sam Brittain and Adam Murray.
Olkinuora has a 1-2-2 record, a 1.91 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
Forward Matt Leitner of Minnesota State also was nominated for this award.
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